Bring to a slow boil
by Arianna Scribbler
Summary: Tom finds out about the Dursleys and takes matters into his own hands. 'Even snakes bleed red' part 2. (Contains mentions of past child abuse, implied ligilimancy, and offscreen violence.)


Author's note: this belongs to the 'Even snakes bleed red' AU. It's spelled out in more detail at the beginning of _Coat my heart with poisoned thorns_ but the short version is that post-Chamber Tom in the diary stayed inside of Ginny and they now coexist.

Thanks go to Ryn and to Jess for feedback and encouragement.

Disclaimer: _Harry Potter_ is the property of JK Rowling. No money is being made from this project.

* * *

When Harry tells Tom about the Dursleys the Slytherin's normally expressive face closes instantly and he stiffens, all hints of warmth gone. _Tell me_, he orders, words clipped and emotionless. Harry swallows, looking down, wishing he'd never said anything.

_It's nothing_, he mumbles.

Tom fixes him with a glare, the kind that makes men twice his age jump to do his bidding and helped spread the rumors that Ginny Weasley wasn't entirely human. Harry squirms, wanting nothing so much as to disappear. Ten years of playground taunts and disapproving teachers and crushing loneliness come flooding through him all at once and he shudders despite himself. His right hand finds his pocket and clenches around his wand, a tangible reminder of the things that have changed.

_Harry_. It's a command not a question, an order to spill things never meant to be exposed. Harry flinches, his mind overlapping a bellowed "_boy!_" over Tom's words. He doesn't look up.

_There's nothing to tell_. Even as the words leave his mouth Harry knows that Tom won't stop until he gets what he wants. Still, Harry's a Gryffindor and he's not going to give in just like that. _We leave each other alone these days. They've been threatened by enough wizards to not try anything._

Harry hadn't thought it possible for Tom to go any stiller than he already was, but he's proven wrong. Tom may as well be carved of stone. He doesn't even seem to be breathing, just looking at Harry with terrifying intensity. _Look at me._

Harry looks up and Tom locks eyes with him, fixing him with an unnaturally piercing gaze. Harry squirms again, unnerved and almost light-headed from the intensity. A moment later Tom breaks eye contact and Harry immediately looks away, feeling a headache start. Tom rises. _I will see you tomorrow at breakfast_, he says. Harry nods mutely, suddenly exhausted. He drops his head into his hands, rubbing his eyes under his glasses. He doesn't hear Tom's light footsteps or the gentle click as the door to the Room of Requirement closes behind him.

* * *

It's not Tom but Ginny who catches up to him the next morning. She's got dark bags under her eyes, like she didn't sleep much the night before, but she waves away his concern and directs him to an unused classroom before he can get to the Great Hall for breakfast.

_Listen, Harry, we need to talk about something._

Harry forces himself to keep his breathing even as he nods. Ginny hasn't inherited Tom's flair for the dramatic; she wouldn't play games of anticipation with him. Somehow that doesn't sooth his sudden nervousness.

_It's about what happened yesterday._

The blood in Harry's veins turns to ice and he knows what the next words will be without having to hear them. _You're overreacting_, she'll say. _You should be grateful that they're giving you a place to live and food to eat. It's not like they hit you anyway. Stop being such a coward_. It's no better than what he's told himself over and over, no better than what Uncle Vernon warned him would happen if he dared bring up anything at school, no better than the taunts thrown at him in the park after school when he tried to bond with Dudley's other victims.

Only when Ginny speaks again that's not what comes out at all. _We're sorry we pried_, she says and Harry stares at her with wide eyes. _It wasn't any of our business and I speak for both of us when I say that we shouldn't have pushed you._

They've fought about this, Harry realizes with a start. Tom and Ginny argued about this, argued about _him_. His heartbeat picks up slightly as he stares at her. He replays the conversation from yesterday in his mind, wishing he'd been more careful with his words. _It's all right_, he says, forcing words through slightly numb lips. _You were just curious._

Ginny frowns, opens her mouth, then closes it again. Harry's eyes narrow. _Still,_ she says, and he knows that wasn't what she meant to say. _I'm sorry_.

_It's fine_, he says shortly. Logically he knows it probably isn't important, knows that Ginny probably just reconsidered her phrasing, knows that he's overreacting. But logic doesn't always apply in the wizarding world, especially not around Tom Riddle, and Harry's learned not to ignore the twisting in his gut that tells him something's wrong. Whatever it was that she didn't say it's important.

_Okay_, she says, and he doesn't think he's imagining her slight discomfort. _I'll let you get to breakfast then. See you later_.

_See you_, Harry agrees and they leave the empty classroom, going in opposite directions once they reach the first fork in the corridor. Hermione gives him a questioning look when he sits down next to her at the Gryffindor table but Harry shakes his head and focuses on his breakfast. She lets him be, though he doesn't miss the significant look she sends towards where Ginny sits at the Slytherin table.

* * *

_What are you doing this summer?_ Harry isn't quite sure which of them it is asking the question – Ginny can be frighteningly good at imitating Tom's mannerisms when she chooses and Tom with the charisma turned as far off as it gets can match Ginny's cadence tone for tone. He shrugs.

_Going back to the Dursleys probably. Why?_

_We were thinking we'd rent a flat in Diagon Alley if you wanted to join us._ It's almost certainly Ginny. Tom wouldn't bother asking.

_If Dumbledore lets me, sure_, Harry says. He's still wary around Ginny and Tom, the exchange about his relatives and subsequent secrets certainly not forgotten, but he'll give pretty much anything to get out of spending time at his relatives' house and he does like spending time with Tom and Ginny.

_Don't worry about him_. That's definitely Tom, all cool confidence and predatory edges.

_Don't do anything stupid_, Harry says firmly, narrowing his eyes warningly in Tom's direction. Tom looks highly affronted at the idea that he might do something stupid but Harry distinctly remembers the way he almost got them all killed over the summer trying to get a family heirloom he insisted was very important and he crosses his arms.

_Stop fighting_. Ginny now, stride less aggressive and voice lighter. She's no less dangerous, just less experienced. _We need to get to Herbology, but we'll talk more about this later._ She and Tom take a right and Harry speeds up to fall into step with Morag MacDougal from Ravenclaw who's also going to charms. She nods a greeting at him, he nods back, and the two go the rest of the way to Professor Flitwick's classroom in companionable silence.

* * *

Harry gets an anonymous letter two weeks later on the Monday after a Hogsmeade weekend. The handwriting is unfamiliar, the message short. _Consider this a debt repaid_. Attached to the note is a newspaper clipping from the muggle newspaper Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia receive. Uncle Vernon's battered face looks back at him, expression frozen forever in ugly terror. **UNKNOWN ATTACKER LEAVES RESPECTED COMMUNITY MEMBER IN HOSPITAL**screams the headline. Harry doesn't read the rest of the article. When he looks towards the Slytherin table Ginny is calmly buttering a piece of toast. She has bags under her eyes again. Harry looks back down at his own breakfast and tries very hard not to think about the warmth spreading through him.


End file.
